Friday, July 1, 2016

Celebrating Canada Day July 1, 2016

Source: Wikipedia

On July 1st, 1867, the British North America Act, passed by the British Parliament and signed by Queen Victoria, came into force, creating the Dominion of Canada. Initially Canada consisted of a federation of four provinces while the remained of the provinces and three territories joined later. Prior to that time they were administered by Great Britain. The BNA Act, Canada's Constitution was amended 16 times by the British Parliament, at the request of the Canadian Parliament.

The Canada Act, passed in 1982 by the British Parliament at the

Source: Wikipedia

request of Canada finally returned the Constitution to Canada and direct Canadian control. The Brits would have done this long ago but the Canadians could not agree on a formula for amending the constitution until then. The problem is Quebec and Ontario make up 23% and 38.5% of Canadian population respectively. Alberta and BC together are slightly larger than Quebec. The provinces rarely see eye-to-eye on anything. So we need a formula that is fair and is perceived to be fair, as the saying goes:

To change the Constitution using the general formula, the change needs to be approved by 1) the federal Parliament, 2) the Senate, and 3) a minimum number of provincial legislatures. There must be at least seven provinces that approve the change, representing at least 50% of Canada's population.July 1st used to be called Dominion Day. This was changed to Canada Day after 1982.So what did we do today to celebrate Canada Day? Went shopping for shoes in Krivii Rih. Our taxi driver, Vitalik, collected us at about 9:00 am and we picked up Masha and Lina. I needed shoes badly and am hard to fit. They don't carry size 49 (14) in many stores for some reason. Vitalik knew where the big Sport Master store was and that is where we went. Two pairs of summer running shoes, a pair of winter running shoes and a pair of sandels later. . . None of their clothes fit me but they did have clothes Lina's size, so Lina and Tanya looked at them while Masha and I looked at bicycles and other sporting goods. I found bike horns, with squeezy bulbs. Took the biggest they had and went quietly up behind Tanya and honked it in her ear. Old geezers get bored easily and can always find something to do.The little strip mall also had a Gloria Jeans so we went in there to look for clothes for Masha. No chairs. I cleared a spot on a display bench and sat down to read. That lasted until the manager caught me. She sent me back to the dressing rooms where they had little seats. Somehow being the lone male in a female dressing room area just didn't seem right. I went outside.I got my McDonald's fix and we were home by 3:00.

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Happy (belated) Canada Day! We celebrated by discovering the Silver Springs Botanical Gardens here in Calgary - I've lived here for 30 years and never heard of them until now. They cover about 20 acres in total, all beautifully maintained by volunteers and planted with things that are hardy in our freakish climate. Tanya would undoubtedly enjoy wandering through them. And of course, we went to the fireworks in the evening - a very enjoyable day!

It's a bit of an odd layout - the larger portion to the south (containing the Oval Garden and labyrinth) seems a little anticlimactic because there's lots of space and lots of trees but not many flowerbeds. We walked through it and thought, "That's nice. Whatever. Should we bother to look at the Wall Garden? Eh, let's just give it a driveby..." (The Gardens are a long L-shape strung out along a 1 km path, see map: http://www.botanicalgardensofsilversprings.ca/map.htm)

Turns out the Wall Garden is the showpiece: 1300 feet of uninterrupted flowerbed, including a wonderful display of hardy rose varieties. And it's all free. There's a tiny donation box with a discreet sign in the Shakespeare Garden, but it's strictly voluntary. We were impressed!

We have met the Enemy

Proud to be Ukrainian

About Me

Father, husband, agricultural consultant, beef cattle specialist, dog owner, reluctant gardener, amateur photographer, history buff and wandering soul who has at last found home and happiness in Ukraine. Fully registered as a permanent resident, who unfortunately looks like his passport picture, I am here for the foreseeable future, having married the “only woman in Ukraine who does not want to move to Canada”. I do miss my kids terribly, though Tanya’s family including two granddaughters make up for it somewhat.